Sunslates™ are an advanced photovoltaic product. Sunslates™ allow the roof of your home to serve as both a roof and a power plant simultaneously. A typical installation of 216 Sunslates™ (about 300 square feet / 28 square meters) will cover from 60 to 80% of your power needs, depending on the location. The roof is installed by an Atlantis certified installer possibly with your local roofer and the electrical work is done by your local electrician.
 

With SUNSLATES™ solar electric roofing tiles, you get more than a roof over your head. A technologically advanced roofing solution dramatically reduces electricity demand. Atlantis Energy's stringent standards and insistence on using superior building materials, results in a product that will last for decades. Each SUNSLATES™ tile begins as a an Eternit roofing slate. These slates dominate the European roofing world. We then glue the low glare tempered glass power panel to the exposed surface. Because it is a roofing product it is installed using onsite electrical or roofing subs.
 

Ideal for both new construction or re-roofing, the complete SUNSLATES™ system is delivered to the job site. No special trades are necessary. Once trained, the roofer and electrician can handle the installation themselves:

• SUNSLATES™ are secured with stainless steel storm anchor hooks and anchored to 1x4 nailers resting on 2x2 sleepers. They are rated to Dade County, Fl. standard.
   
• Each SUNSLATES™ tile comes with a proprietary gas-tight connector that wires each tile to the adjacent tile. With a simple twist of a special screwdriver-like tool (provided), locks and secures the SUNSLATES™ tile within its circuit.
   
• At the end of each course a “homerun” cable is run to a splice box on the underside of the roof deck. On new construction, the low voltage cable is run through wall bays to the inverter. Usually on re –roof construction it is run through conduit on the exterior wall through an eave.
   
• The typical size of an energy roof uses about 300 ft. square of SUNSLATES™. (17' x 17'). This size dimension requires one inverter. (Note) Each 100 sq feet of SUNSLATES™ installed is 750 pounds of roofing. This compares to pounds per square for concrete tile and 300 pounds for composition shingles.
   
• A single sub-roof penetration (through the plywood sheathing and felt paper, not the tiles) is required per roof plane of SUNSLATES™ installed.
   
• The wiring from the roof to the inverter — and from the inverter to the main house panel — can be handled by the on-site electrical contractor who is wiring the rest of the house using standard wiring techniques.
   
• The inverter is installed within a cabinet that is built into an exterior or interior location in the house, preferably one that is close to the main house panel.

AES produces custom glass panels built specifically for the job at hand. They usually consist of PV cells in a "glass sandwich", a layer of glass, a layer of PV cells and another layer of glass. The possibilities of this product are nearly endless. It has been used as a facade, an entire roof, a skylight, an atrium or even as an artistic installation.
 

BACKGROUND

Photovoltaics have traditionally been manufactured, sold and installed in retrofit applications. ‘Standard’ PV modules are produced with aluminum frames designed for grouping on racks to be deployed on buildings or on the ground for reduction of a building electrical load after the building has been constructed.

Recently the USA has seen a surge in market demand for PV as a building element, known as building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). This application technique is well known in Europe and has a mature market and several tens of projects in Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Britain. Japan and other Asian markets have recently moved in the direction of BIPV with some installations completed and several projects on the near horizon.